El Deafo

Cece struggles to connect with other children in her neighborhood because she can’t easily play games like kickball. One afternoon she avoids Ginny’s phone call, and Cece’s mother insists that Cece go make herself busy. Cece reflects on feeling lonely and imagines herself as El Deafo in a bubble of solitude. Then, her bubble is burst by a third grader across the street named Martha. Martha invites her to play, and the girls discover they love the same TV shows. Martha invites Cece to sleepover, and Cece is so determined to maintain the friendship she vows to hide her hearing disability.

When they are about to fall asleep, Martha won’t stop talking. Cece is exhausted and turns off her hearing aids to get some rest. Martha nudges her and reveals that she knows what Cece has done—Cece is horrified and apologizes, but Martha finds it funny that Cece can turn off the world. Cece realizes that Martha has known about her hearing aids the whole evening and hasn’t judged her or treated her differently. She invites her to be El Deafo’s sidekick: “And thus, Martha Claytor, by the hand of fate, is transformed into that most glorious superhero of all, the True Friend” (130).